Gordon Smith - says it would never happen to Real Madrid or Manchester United

[ian1964 10,870]

Gordon Smith says it would never happen to Real Madrid or Manchester United.

 

There simply wouldnâ??t be an incessant desire from within Spain or England to destroy one of their biggest institutions.

 

So he is stunned by what he calls the â??anti-Rangers feelingâ? in Scotland.

 

Smith has worked at Ibrox as a player and director of football. He was also SFA chief executive for three years.

 

There were always those who didnâ??t

care for Rangers but since the financial demise of the club the animosity towards his former employers has grown to such an extent that it threatens to cripple the entire Scottish game.

 

Smith left Rangers in February as the disastrous Craig Whyte regime in Govan started to unravel. Five months on, the club has been liquidated while Charles Greenâ??s newco has been denied access to the SPL leaving the Ibrox owner trying to get a team in the First or Third Division.

 

Smith accepts punishments had to be imposed for the gross mismanagement of the David Murray and Whyte eras but insists the bloodlust of certain clubs and groups of supporters to have Rangers killed off has gone too far.

 

Smith hopes Ally McCoistâ??s team are accepted by the SFL into the First Division without further sanctions. He said: â??There is a lot of anti-Rangers feeling out there.

 

â??Some people in the Scottish game want to impose more punishments and basically to see Rangers destroyed. It has been totally over the top. People can say all they like about sporting integrity but you can sense the anti-Rangers agendas.

 

â??Think about Real Madrid or Barcelona. Can you imagine what the reaction would be if the Spanish authorities were trying to throw them down to the bottom tier?

 

â??It just wouldnâ??t happen. Real Madrid and Barca had massive debts of around £700million but came to an agreement

with the Spanish government, who helped them clear it.

 

â??Can you imagine that happening in Scotland with Rangers?

 

â??Manchester United are another club with a large amount of debt but you would never have a situation where club chairmen in League One or Two would be deciding whether they should get thrown out of the Premier League. It seems crazy.

 

â??There is another big Scottish company struggling right now, Halls of Broxburn, and they employ a lot of people in their

meat factory.

 

â??They are having serious financial difficulties but if someone comes in and takes them over, will they be penalised

and punished?

 

â??Rangers werenâ??t doing things properly financially, everyone accepts that. The club was being run at a loss. But the way a lot of people are using this as an opportunity to have a go at the club is quite sad.

 

â??The club has to somehow get round the anti-Rangers feeling and come back in the right way. Anti-Rangers sentiment is holding Scottish football back.

 

â??People are making decisions to punish Rangers they could live to regret because their own clubs might suffer as a result further down the line.â?

 

McCoist has said â??enough is enoughâ? in terms of punishing Rangers and Smith agrees itâ??s time the manager, his staff and players were cut a bit of slack.

 

While Smith was director of football, there were claims he and McCoist didnâ??t get on. Smith denies that and backs the clubâ??s all-time top scorer as the man to lead Rangers out of the abyss.

 

He said: â??Rangers should be in the First Division with no further sanctions placed on them. In fact, if there are going to be sanctions, Rangers should opt out and

apply for the Third.

 

â??The sanctions could be detrimental to the club. There is no point going into the First Division with a transfer embargo or points deduction.

 

â??Ally has very few players as it is. Why should they get a 15-point penalty? They have already been punished by being thrown out of the SPL.

 

â??There was never a problem between myself and Ally. We get on well and heâ??s still the man to take the club forward without a doubt.

 

â??If I were asked tomorrow to put

together a plan for Rangers at whatever level, be it SPL, First or Third Division, Iâ??d want Ally in charge.

 

â??Heâ??s had to act with incredible dignity during his first job in management with all the difficulties he has faced.

 

â??A Rangers manager should be going for the title and playing in Europe. Instead heâ??s got to rebuild from a lower division but if he does that heâ??ll get huge recognition.â?

 

Smith was devastated when Rangers went into liquidation on June 14 after

HMRC refused to accept a CVA.

 

He feels for the Ibrox fans more than anyone but now expects the reputation of Scottish football as a whole to suffer.

 

He said: â??I was angry and disappointed when I heard the club had been liquidated. There had been so much talk about the CVA and, like a lot of people, I thought that would have been the best route. It would have allowed them to continue at a good level, with the chance to rebuild financially.

 

â??While I was there, we had plans in place to assure the clubâ??s costs would be cut. Wages had to be cut for the club to go forward. My over-riding emotion is sadness when I see the mess the club is now in. Itâ??s shocking for all of the supporters.

 

â??With the history that club has, it shouldnâ??t have been allowed to happen.

 

â??Iâ??m also sad about the way it reflects on Scottish football as a whole. I think our game is now going to suffer a serious down-turn in the next few years.â?

[kuznetsov 0]

i like smith

[UCF2008 0]

I'd like to think that Smith would have done a far better job of handling this situation than Regan had he still been SFA chief exec. That said it's strange when you think back and remember just how much George Peat interfered. Unfortunate that Ogilvie isn't able to do likewise with Regan full stop nevermind our situation where he's got EBT / conflict of interest as an excuse.

[stewarty 2,123]

We need much more of this kind of stuff. It exposes the agendas for what they are.

[Steve1872 4]

says it would never happen to Real Madrid or Manchester United

as was proven with Leeds

[UCF2008 0]

says it would never happen to Real Madrid or Manchester United

as was proven with Leeds

 

The point isn't the insolvency event itself, but the fact the the English and Spanish FA's, EPL and La Liga wouldn't be so negligent and inept to allow the situation to arise that rival clubs and hence their supporters would decide the fate of the most successful club in the country.